Black Friday Deals Increase Automotive Sales for November in the US & Canada

Now that a week has passed since Black Friday, the stats are rolling in.

The Black Friday deals were so successful this year that they actually increased automotive sales by 4% for the month in the U.S. This makes November, 2016 the highest on record with 1.38 million units sold, beating the previous 2001 record of 1.32 million according to Kelley Blue Book.

Since 2013, sales during the weekend after American Thanksgiving have been nearly double the sales during a typical November weekend, according to car shopping site Edmunds.com. Prior to 2013, automakers only saw a 39% increase in sales that weekend.

For November, some automakers said:
— General Motors sales rose 10%. Its Buick, GMC and Cadillac brands all saw double-digit percentage increases in sales, while Chevrolet sales were up 8%. Full-size SUVs were strong sellers; sales of the Cadillac Escalade were up 25% while sales of the Chevrolet Tahoe jumped 31%.
— Toyota Motor sales rose 4%. Luxury Lexus sales were down 1 percent but Toyota brand sales rose 5%. Toyota Highlander SUV sales jumped 67 percent
— Ford Motor sales rose 5%. Lincoln brand sales were up 19 percent thanks to the new Continental sedan and the redesigned MKX SUV. Sales of Ford’s best-seller, the F-Series pickup, were up 11 percent as the new F-250 and F-350 went on sale.
— Fiat Chrysler’s sales fell 14%. All brands saw double-digit percentage declines except Ram, which was up 12%
— Honda Motor sales rose 6.5%, a November record for the company. Luxury Acura sales dropped 5%, but Honda brand sales were up 8%. Honda’s best-seller, the Accord sedan, saw sales rise 6%.
— Nissan Motor sales were up 7.5%, which was also a November record. Nissan brand sales were up 8%, helped by strong sales of the newly redesigned Armada full-size SUV. Luxury Infiniti sales were up 4%.
— Hyundai Motor sales rose 4%, another November record. Sales of the Sonata and Elantra sedans fell, but the Santa Fe and Tucson SUVs both saw double-digit percentage gains.

This is only U.S. data, but November was a successful month for Canadian dealers as well. Toyota Canada has reported that their hybrids and trucks have set annual sales records, Kia Canada November sales are up 20.5%, and GMC and Ford both reported double-digit rises in Canadian sales.

Black Friday may have a bad rap in terms of large crowds and crazy customers, but it appears to be a very successful way to boost sales boost in the automotive industry!